By Isaac Abimbade
The 2023 Nigeria Presidential election was a lesson course for the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi. As 2027 approaches, Nigerians are once again gearing up for another round of electoral theatrics. The last presidential election in 2023 saw the youth-favourite, Peter Obi, finish a disappointing third. But Obi isn’t backing down; he’s preparing for another shot at the presidency.
There’s no denying the fact that Obi, was the arrowhead presidential candidate from the South-East extraction of Nigeria. But, it is not enough to win a presidential election in a country where the majority of votes come from the North.
It’s still expedient for Obi to revisit joining an alliance with other forces in the North. Peter Obi, will still need more allies who command huge followership in order to appeal to mass majority votes from the region.
In the last election, Peter Obi relied more on the Christain communities for votes, as he was seen going around from one church to another, hoping he would be able to get the majority of the Christians vote for him across Nigeria. Top Nigerian Pastors supported him and gave him the necessary backings. One of those is Bishop Oyedepo. This was made known In a leaked audio, where Obi, was heard telling Bishop Oyedepo of Living Faith Church Worldwide, aka Winners Chapel, to help him get votes from Christians in South-West.He stated that the votes were needed because the 2023 presidential election was a religious war.
Shortly after the 2023 election, a lot of political analysts critised Mr Obi, over his strategies and was told and advised to spread beyond’ borders’ to stand a chance to win in 2027 presidential election.
In the last one year, Mr Obi has been doing a lot especially, in the areas where he failed in the last election. He is more in the north now. He has been doing a lot for them in the north. He has also taken the Muslim communities as his priority by allegedly donating boreholes and cash gifts to many of them. One of the challenges they have in some parts of the north is quality water. And To address the water supply challenge in the North, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi, during his Ramadam tour, a few months back, allegedly drilled and donated boreholes to some northern communities, including Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Zaria, Kaduna States, and others. Some of these projects are expected to alleviate the suffering of those communities.
For this alone, a lot of people from those states and communities, are beginning to accept him to their midsts.
In the last election, he focused on the churches. He wasn’t seen In the mosques at any moment. But just a few months ago, he was seen in a mosque In Niger state. Obi is now touring mosques to attempt to woo more Muslims to his side ahead of the 2027 presidential election. And he is using the hunger in the land to sway them to his side.
He stormed the Barkin-Iku Suleja Niger State Central Mosque, located along the Suleja, Kaduna road in Niger State. Obi also offered aid to about 100 individuals and broke the Ramadan fast with about 1,000 them and share a meal with the devout Muslim community. This is one of the new strategies he’s adopted to woo the core north.
He has also formed several alliances with different groups from the north. Some of this groups are political and religious in nature. They speak for the common interest of the north. Some of these groups are now speaking in favour of Peter Obi for the 2027 presidential election. Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, a northern group under the auspices of Arewa Indigenous Obidients Forum, has backed Obi, to contest again for President.
At a press conference in Kano, the Forum’s Coordinator, Engineer Alkassim Awwal, expressed the group’s firm belief that Obi, with divine intervention, will emerge as Nigeria’s next president in 2027.
According to Awwal, the Forum has a clear vision and dedicated plan to ensure Obi’s success.
“We listened as Peter Obi literally begged Nigerians to listen to his vision, yet we dismissed it as one of many political talks that we have heard in the past.
We now read the clear handwriting on the wall. We recalled the ethos of truth and sincere pledges to revive Nigeria’s economy and revamp our innate patriotism,” he said.
The Forum’s declaration comes amidst a backdrop of widespread hunger, poverty, and uncertainty across the country. Awwal acknowledged that Nigerians, including the Forum members, share responsibility for the current state of the nation. He lamented how Nigerians initially dismissed Obi’s earnest appeals and visionary plans as mere political rhetorics.
According to our insider who revealed that, Peter Obi, is still very much open to form an alliance or join forces with another party if the need be. He said that is why he’s been consulting and meeting with various groups and political leaders in the last few months. “as we speak he hasn’t decided whether to run under the Labour Party or join forces with other parties”, revealed by our inside source.
A few months back, Peter Obi, had a secret meeting with the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and the details of the meeting was unknown till date but Atiku, had said lately that he’s ready to work with anyone if that is the choice of his party, PDP.
“I have said repeatedly and I even said it before the 2023 general elections that if the PDP decides to zone the presidential ticket to the South or South-East specifically, I won’t contest it. As long as it’s the decision of the party, I will abide by it. But I contested the 2023 presidential ticket because it was thrown open to all members of the party.
“If the party decides that it’s the turn of the South-East and Peter Obi, is chosen, I won’t hesitate to support him,” Atiku declared in a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service. He added that a merger between the PDP and Labour Party is possible. Atiku, added that members of the party would decide his fate in the 2027 general elections. The former Vice President mentioned that his recent meeting with Obi might indicate a possible alliance leading up to the 2027 general elections. This was made known after his meeting with Peter Obi.
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